Duplicating pad or sales book



@ct 16, 1945. E. z. I Ewls DUPLICATING PAD OR SALES BOOK Filed July 2,1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l .2 /il 'l INVENTOR,

di. i6, 1945. E, Z, LEWIS I ,385,

DUPLICATING PAD OR SALES BOOK Filed July 2, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR.

Y wwzgew Patented Oct. 16, 1945 DUPLICATING PAD R SALES BOOK Edward Z.Lewis, Evanston, Ill., assignor to General Manifold & Printing Co., acorporation of Pennsylvania Application July 2, 1941, Serial No. 400,837

Claims.

` sheet may be used as a master copy sheet in a spirit duplicatingmachine. This makes it possible to hand the customer immediately acarbon copy of the order and to send in the original order to mastercopy sheet to headquarters where any desired number of additionalcopies, possibly ten, twenty or more, may be made rapidly andinexpensively on a duplicating machine, thus avoiding the delay andexpense incident to retyping the order with the required carbon copies,as in the prior practice.

The general object of the invention is toobtain the advantages and avoidthe disadvantages, just enumerated.

Contributoryobjects are:

To provide a duplicating pad having a hectoma'ster sheet positioned faceup at the bottom of the record sheets, and a carbon transfer sheetimmediately beneath said hectomaster sheet and positioned facedownwardly on top of the copy sheets.

To provide a pad of this character in which the record sheets and thecopy sheets are reversely fanned at the lower edges thereof, tofacilitate locating the record sheet to be written on, even withoutlooking at the pad, and without touching the transfer sheets.

To provide a pad of this character in which the hectograph sheet has itsupper edge concealed between the adjacent edges of the record and copysheets t0 prevent spread of the hectograph transfer material over saidedges.

To provide a pad of this character in which the hectograph coatingterminates short of the side edges of the transfer sheet and in Whichsaid transfer sheet is 4covered with asheet of non-absorbent material.

To provide a pad of this character in which the record sheets or printedforms have lines of weakening at the same distance from the bottom edgein each case to provide for record sheets of uniform height whendetached, said lines of weakening being at progressively greaterdistances from the top of the pad to give the lower edges of said sheetsa fanned arrangement, insuring more uniform wear over the face of thehectomaster sheet.

To provide a pad of this character with a blank area on the hectographtransfer sheet to prevent transferring to the back of the order sheetthose entries which are subject to correction or amplication later.

To provide a pad of this character having one or more eXtra copy recordsheets attached to each of said record sheets at'the edge opposite thebinding edge and provided with carbon transfer material on the backthereof.

To provide auxiliary means for making additions and corrections on themaster sheets in a certain area intended for the purpose, and protectingother portions against additional marks or writing.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the descriptionhereinafter given.

In the drawings- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a commercial form ofpad embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary end view of the lower edges of the sheets,greatly enlarged;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the top record sheet;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the bottom record sheet;

Fig. 5 is a rear view of said bottom record sheet, detached from thestub;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged side elevation of the pad after all the recordsheets and copy sheets have been torn out, showing only thestub and thetwo transfer sheets;

Fig. '7 is a perspective view of one of the record sheets with atransfer sheet attached thereto, as

end, with the edges at the opposite end of the upper group projecting ina step-like or fanned arrangement, and with the edges at the oppositeend of the lower group of sheets arranged in an inverted, step-like orfanned position. The lower group, i. e. the copy sheets, correspondpreferably in number to the record sheets in the upper group. Inaddition there are tWo intervening sheets, coated with transfermaterial, positioned between the upper group and the lower group, andarranged back to back.

In the preferred form, shown in part in Fig. 2 and on a greatly enlargedscale, there are ten record sheets and ten copy sheets, the recordsheets being designated R1, R.2 R10, and the copy sheets beingdesignated C1, C2 C10. This figure also shows clearly the fannedarrangement of the two groups, which means that the lower edge of eachrecord sheet extends beyond the outer edge or lower edge of the nextsheet which in this case ls immediately above it, providing aprogressive series of exposed margins. Also, the copy sheets arelikewise fanned Ibut in the reverse order, i. e. each sheet projectsbeyond the outer edge of the sheet immediately beneath it, in aprogressive series.

The sheets in the two groups are bound together in the form of a singlepad, by any suitable means, as for example the wire staples I0, althoughthey may be otherwise secured. Each of the record sheets has a series ofperforations or cuts II or other line of weakening near the top thereofto permit ready detachment of the sheet from the pad. except for anupper margin in each case. which unused margins will collectively formpart of the stub to be discarded, after all the sheets of the group havebeen detached. The copy sheets likewise are providedwith lines ofweakening near the top to permit ready detachment. One

record sheet and a corresponding copy sheet are torn out at the sametime, in the manner hereinafter described.

In the case of the record sheets, the lines of weakening are all at thesame distance from the bottom of each sheet so that each of the torn outsheets will be the same length from the top to the bottom. This resultsin a stepped arrangement of the lines of weakening also, a5 shown in theupper half of the stub I2 illustrated in Fig. 6. In like manner thelower half of said stub also illustrates the stepped arrangement of thelines of weakening of the copy sheets. The copy sheets are all of thesame length from top to bottom but said copy sheets are preferably alittle longer than the record sheets, as for example about a quarter ofan inch longer, the advantage of which is explained later.

Immediately below the bottom record sheet R10 xis a transfer sheet I3,the upper surface of which is coated with so-called hectograph transfermaterial suitable for making a master copywfor use in a spiritduplicator machine, in which trie typed material appearing on the mastercopy sheet mustl be in reverse.

Immediately beneath the coated sheet I3, which may be called thehectomaster sheet, is positioned ranged face downwardly. It will benoted that said two transfer sheets are arranged back to back betweenthe group of record sheets and the group of copy sheets with thehectograph coating facing upwardly and the carbon coating factact withthe fingers of the hand and possible smudglng of the transfer material.Insofar as the use of the device is concerned, however, said transfer'sheets may extend to or I'beyond the lower edges of the record and copysheets, as long as the cut-out or notch I5 is sufficiently on top of thetransfer sheets. .another sheet I4 coated with transfer material,.-

preferably a sheet of ordinary carbon paper ardeep to extend well withinthe lower edges of all of these other sheets. Also, said transfer sheetsand particularly the hectomaster sheet are positioned preferably so asto terminate short of the upper edges of the adjacent sheets whereby thetransfer material on said sheets is inaccessible, the upper edges beingconcealed between the adjacent sheets. See Fig. 6. This is a desirablearrangement not only to prevent direct contact with andr soiling of thefingers by the coating of the hectomaster sheet which is particularlyobjectionable, but to prevent the aniline coating on said sheet fromworking its way over the edges of the adjacentsheets, as may happen inwarm weather when said coating softens. Furthermore. when said coatingis brought in contact with more or less porous material, said coating isabsorbed by capillary action, wihch in time renders the master sheetmuch less effective in making reproductions. As a further protectionagainst this deleterious action, a protective sheet I6 may be interposedbetween the bottom record sheet R1 and the face of the hectomaster sheetI3, as shown in Fig. 1. This protective sheet is olltional and whereprovided it is torn out and discarded before any entries are made on thepad or may be replaced in position.

In using the pad, as for example where a salesman writes an order on oneof the record sheets and wishes to retain a carbon copy thereof (usingone of the copy sheets), the first order is written on the bottom recordsh'eet R10, the carbon copy thereof appearing on the top copy sheet C10.Both sets of sheets being fanned outwardly at the loweredges, as shownin Fig. 2, it is an easy matter to locate the middle of the pad wherethe first entries are to be made. All that is necessary is to place thethumb on th'e protruding edge of the bottom record sheet R10, and openthe pack, to expose practically the full surface of said record sheet.As the items are written in longhand, the hectomaster sheet causes acopy of the order to appear in reverse on the back of the record sheetand simultaneously a carbon copy appears on th'e top of the copy sheet.The user then grasps the two sheets near the middle of the lower edges,between the thumb and one or more fingers, and holding the upper part ofthe pad, or stub, in the other hand, the two sheets are readily pulledout or torn from the pad leaving the two transfer sheets in place.During the act of pulling these two parts away from the binding edge,the other record sheets are allowed to drop down The fact that saidtransfer sheets have a large cut-out at the middle, as sh'own in Fig. 1,makes this tearing out .operation readily possible, without exercisingany -.particular care.

Various other arrangements may be employed if desired, to permit saidrecord sheet and copy sheet to be grasped at a predeter- .mined area andtorn out without tearing out the V transfer sheets.

Heretofore it has been the practice, where the original orders are sentto headquarters and were a large number of copies are required for thedifferent departments, as in the meat packing business for example, t0make a typed copy of each order with' as many carbons as are needed forsaid departments. This extra typing operation and the attendant delayand expense, are entirely eliminated in using my invention, as theoriginal order, after being sent to headquarters, may be reproduced on aspirit duplicator, making a large number of copies, considerably inexcess of the number of considered feasible on a typewriter, in somecases as many as forty or fifty. l

As shown in Fig. 1, the hectograph coated sheet I3 has an uncoatedmargin on both sides or edges or it may have a much larger uncoatedarea, on one side as is shown for example in Fig. hereinafter described.Also, the carbon coated sheet I4 need not be completely covered withtransfer material on its under side and preferably has an uncoated areacorresponding to that of the hectomaster sheet.

It will be seen that in writing the original order and making a carboncopy thereof, the lowermost record sheet and the uppermost, copy sheetare necessarily the ones used,- and hence constitute a pair ofsuperimposed sheets ready to be torn out together. The next pair usedcomprise the lowermost remaining record sheet and the uppermostremaining carbon sheet as before, and thus all the sheets are pulled outin pairs, beginning at the middle of the pad and working toward the topand bottom, the uppermost record sheet and the lowermost copy sheetbeing the last sheets to be used and torn out, leaving a stub having theappearance of that shown in Fig. 6.

The hectograph coating is not adapted t'o make a very large numberof.impre'ssions, as for example if a single line were drawn on therecord sheet and the same torn out and then a similar line drawn on eachof the remaining record sheets, one at a. time, with said record line inexact registration with th'e impression on the transfer sheet, theamount of material transferred to the under side of said record sheetsfrom the same narrow area on the transfer sheet would prevent goodreproduction of all .of said lines on the spirit duplicator. Inotherwords, it is not desirable to apply repeated pressure to the sameidentical area of the hectograph sheet, particularly wh'ere it isdesirable to make twenty, .thirty or more copies of what is written, bymeans of the spirit duplicator.y Also, the hectogrpah transfer materialis costly, much more so than that used on ordinary carbon paper, and,therefore, it is desirable to use as lmuch of the material on a sheet,and to discard as small a proportion of the coating, as possible.

To meet this situation I have provided the step-like arrangement of thelines of weakening, as shown clearly in Figs. 2 and 6. Assuming that therecord sheets are printed forms and that the salesman writes fairlyaccurately on each line rather than between the lines, it will be seenthat the lines of writing are a little nearer the top of the hectographsheet as the successive lowermost sheets are torn out. This insures moreeven distribution of the pressure over the hectograph sheet and makesfor more even wear. The same is true with respect to the sheet of carbonpaper used for each of the transfer sheets. Referring to the printedform, as shown by the top record sheet R1 shown in Fig. 3 and the bottomrecord sheet R10 shown in Fig. 4, these sheets have their top edges onthe same horizontal line, and each has the same horizontal lines printedthereon and at the same distance from the bottom of each sheet, but allthe printed lines on the right hand or bottom sheet are displaceddownwardly with respect to the corresponding lines on the left hand ortop sheet. Assuming that ten record sheets are provided, as shown by Wayof illustration in the drawings, the line of writing may, if desired, beshifted about one-tenth of the space between two consecutive horizontallines, as successive record sheets are written on. With some hectographmaterial it is not practical or desirable to make many more than ten ortwelve impressions from the same area or closely adjacent areas, andhence a. pad of ten record sheets is a good commercial compromise.Obviously, however, the number either of the record sheets or of carbonsheets may be varied.

It is evident that the inverted, stepped arrangement of the copy sheetswith respect to the record sheets serves a double function. Not onlydoes it provide for more even wear of the sheets coated with transfermaterial, but it facilitates the handling of the pad so that it may beopened quickly in order to write on the lowermost record sheet,regardless of how many sheets may have been detached previously. Also,it makes it very easy to seize the next pair of sheets to be torn out,i. e. the record sheet and the corresponding carbon sheet. In fact, thismay be done without even looking atthe pad and also without touching thetransfer sheets.

As a modification, some or all of the record sheets may have extra copyrecord sheets attached to the edge thereof opposite the binding edge.This addition to one sheet only is shown in Fig. 'l in which the extrasheet il constitutes an extension of the record sheet i8 and is foldedover with carbon transfer material on the under side thereof and scored,to permit the same to be torn oif. Thus an extra copy is obtained'of theoriginal order in addition to the other copies made in the mannerpreviously described. -If

-the original order on the top or back of said car-bon coated sheet i1is written with a Hecto pencil, said sheet. may be used as a mastersheet on a gelatin type machine. In addition, the hectomaster sheet maybe used on the spirit duplicator machine, as previously described.

In some eases, certain entries made by the salesman are subject tochange or correction at the home oilice, as for example the pricesquoted by the salesman. In other words, after the original order sheethas been delivered to the pricing clerk rthe latter writes certainfinal, corrected entries to complete the order before it goes to thecopying machine. To meet this requirement the hectomaster sheet may beprovided with a blank column or uncoated area so thatany entries made ina correspondingly placed column on the ordersheet will not be reproducedin reverseon the back of said sheet. Such a hectomaster sheet I9 isshown in Fig. 10. By way of illustration only, the uncoated area isshown at the right hand side of the sheet but it may be elsewherelocated and otherwise shaped, depending on the printed form used. Eitheror both of the two transfer sheets may be partially coated so that someentries may show on either the record or the copy sheet withoutappearing on the other.

In order to facilitate the step of lling in the final prices where thehectomaster sheet has a vertical blank area as in Fig.10, I provide aholder or frame such as shown in Figs. 8 and 9. on which the order sheetis placed by the clerk who writes in the prices or the other items inthe blank column. Said frame, which may conveniently be made of metal,has a base 20 and a cover 2| hinged to an extension 22 which in turn ishinged to the b-ase at 23 and is provided with coiled vsprings 24. Theframe, as thus far described, may be of conventional design, but ismodied by having an opening 25 cut therein. ,In order to reproduce onthe back of the order sheet, the prices or other data which are writtenin as a final step on the face thereof, a sheet or strip of hectographmaterial 26 is placed under the opening or window. Said strip mayhave abacking sheet or a stop card 21 under it. Protection is provided by anoverlying sheet 28, preferably a waxed sheet secured to the hecto sheetat one of the edges and having perforations or lines of weakening 29 topermit the end sections to be torn off, one at a time. The two sheets 26and 21 thus are assembled so 'that they may be handled as a unit,without soilingl the fingers, and clamped between the base 20 and theextension or panel 22 by swinging back the cover `2|, in a manner whichis well known. Before closing the cover, the left hand panel is torn offso that when the sheets, which have been clamped in place, are viewedthrough the opening, the appearance presented is that shown in Fig. 8,i. e. a vertical column of exposed hectograph material seen at the lefthand'side of the opening. The clerk then places the Original order sheetover the frame and holds it in such position that the column in which heis to write, registers with the exposed hectograph column, whereupon anyentries which are made, in said column, on the face of the order, arereproduced in reverse on the back thereof. After a number of ordersheets have been used successively in this manner and the hectographmaterial is somewhat depleted, the user merely lifts the cover 2| andtears off another protecting panel, thus exposing a hectograph areatwice as wide as the one exposed in Fig. 7. The clerk then places thenext order sheet over the frame in such position as to make use of thefreshly exposed hectograph column, and as continued use is made of theframe the remaining panel or panels may be torn off until full use ismade of all of the hectograph material, after which the clamped sheetsmay be discarded and a new set of sheets containing a fresh hectographstrip, inserted. Thus the frame and perforated protecting sheet, visiblethrough the opening, constitute in effect means for shifting the writingarea when the original order is used therewith. While the frame may beused with its hinged endeither at the left or the right, it ispreferable positioned with the hinge and clamping members at the rightso that as the successive panels are torn from the free end, at theleft'of the sheet, the remaining untorn panels will protect the handfrom contact with the hectograph coating. Also, in this position it iseasier to place the order sheet over the frame in the proper positionwith respect to the freshly exposed hectograph area. The protectingpanels are preferably secured to Aeach other so lightly as to be tornoff by the mere pressure of the finger thereon sideways. As a result litis not even necessary to lift the cover high enough to permit the lefthand panel to -be seized between the thumb and the nger.

The hecto transfer material may be of a different color from that usedin the sales pad, to show readily which figures were added to the sheetand were corrected later, as compared to the entries initially made onthe back of the order sheet.

I claim:

l. A sales pad comprising a multiplicity of record sheets having tabsbound together with the upper edges in registration with one another,said tabs being progressively longer from the top to the bottom of theseries and said record sheets being of the same length from top tobottom with the lower edges thereof protruding in each case beyond theedge of the sheet immediately above,

inprogressive order, a multiplicity of copy sheets sheet after liftingthe sheets above it, will appear l also on the back of said record sheetin reverse, and will appear on the face of the uppermost copy sheet, thelower edges of said copy sheets also protruding progressively, but fromthe bottom to the top of said group, whereby the adjacent record sheetand copy sheet may be grasped and pulled from the middle of the combinedgroups leaving said transfer material sheets in place for further use.

2. A sales pad as in claim 1 in which the coating on the hectographtransfer sheet terminates short of the side edges and in which the lowermargin of said sheet has a notch to provide a clearance when saidadjacent record and copy sheets are grasped.

3. A sales pad comprising a plurality of superimposed printed forms eachhaving a line of weakening at the same distance from the lower edge,said lower edges being arranged in an inclined plane and said linesofweakening also defining an inclined plane, substantially parallel tosaid first plane, resulting in having the same effective length from topto bottom said forms being secured to each other between the upper edgesand said lines of weakening, whereby the same corresponding horizontallines on said printed forms are out of registration with each other, anda sheet of transfer material arranged face up at the bottom of said padof forms, whereby items written on the lowermost'form appear also inreverse on the back thereof when said form is torn out and whereby theimpression made by writing on successive forms from the bottom to thetop form, is distributed over the surface of said transfer materialsheet.

4. A sales pad comprising superimposed printed forms each having a lineof weakening, spaced from the upper edge to form a tab, said tabsincreasing in length from top to bottom, the usable vportions of all ofsaid forms being of the same size whereby the lower edges thereofpresent a beveled appearance, said tabs being secured to each other, andadditional duplicate printed copy forms below said first mentioned formsbut slightly longer from top to bottom, having their lower edges beveledin the opposite direction, said copy forms being secured to each otherand to said first mentioned forms, two transfer sheets arranged back toback between the upper printed forms and the lower copy forms, the faceof the upper transfer sheet having hectograph material thereon and theface of the lower transfer sheet having a carbon coating thereon wherebyby writing on the record sheet immediately above said hectograph sheetand tearing out the same and the copy sheet immediately beneath, leavingsaid transfer sheets in place, a master hectograph sheet and a carboncopy of the writing is provided, the remaining sheets being in positionto permit additional master sheets and copy sheets to be lled in andtorn out, with the written material in proper registration on the twosheets. A

5. A unitary pad for making spirit duplicator master sheets comprising aseries of record' sheets, a sheet having hectograph transfer materialthereon face 'up Abeneath said series of record sheets, tabs detachablyconnected with said record sheets and with said transfer sheet formingextensions of said record sheets for holding the same successively inposition with respect to said transfer sheet, with the upper edge of onerecord sheets arranged higher on the transfer sheet than the upper edgeof the next sheet by a. distance corresponding to a small fraction ofthe normal spacing of successive lines of writing on the sheets.

- EDWARD Z. LEWIS.

